1977 St George-Budapest FC season

St George-Budapest
1977 season
Head Coach	Manfred Schaefer ; Ilija Takac
Stadium	Sydney Sports Ground ; Hurstville Oval ; Wentworth Park
National Soccer League	6th
NSL Cup	First round
Top goalscorer	League: ; Neville Morgan ; Phil O'Connor ; (8 each); All: ; Neville Morgan; Phil O'Connor; (8 each)
Highest home attendance	5,482; vs. Marconi Fairfield ; (23 July 1977); National Soccer League
Lowest home attendance	620; vs. Mooroolbark ; (14 May 1977); National Soccer League
Average home league attendance	2,664
Biggest win	5–1; vs. Mooroolbark (H); (14 May 1977); National Soccer League
Biggest defeat	1–3; vs. Marconi Fairfield (A); (16 April 1977); National Soccer League; 0–2; vs. Adelaide City (A); (23 April 1977); National Soccer League; 0–2; vs. Sydney Olympic (A); (29 June 1977); National Soccer League
	1978 →

Last updated July 06, 2025

The 1977 season was the first in the National Soccer League for St George-Budapest (now St George Football Club). In addition to the domestic league, they also participated in the NSL Cup. St George-Budapest finished 6th in their National Soccer League season, and were eliminated in the first round of the NSL Cup.

Players

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
1	GK	AUS	Martin Coe
2	DF	AUS	George Harris (captain)
3	DF	ENG	Paul Cotton
4	DF	AUS	John O'Shea
5	DF	AUS	Harry Williams
6	MF	AUS	Brendan Grosse
7	FW	ENG	Charlie George
8	FW	AUS	Mark Jankovics
9	FW	AUS	Neville Morgan
10	MF	AUS	Rudolfo Gnavi
11	FW	AUS	Phil O'Connor


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
12	FW	SCO	Fred Aitken
13	DF	AUS	Robert O'Shea
15	FW	ENG	Peter Hensman
16	DF	AUS	Doug Utjesenovic
18	MF	SCO	Willie Hamilton
19	DF	AUS	Peter Terry
20	GK	AUS	Dave McQuire
—	MF	AUS	Roberto Echeverria
—		AUS	Emery Holmik
—		AUS	Carlos Mendez
—	DF	AUS	Mike O'Shea

Transfers

Transfers out

Date from	Position	Name	To	Fee	Ref.
10–16 January 1977	FW	Attila Abonyi	Sydney Croatia	$8,000	^[1]
10–16 January 1977	FW	Jimmy Rooney	Marconi Fairfield	$20,000	^[1]

Competitions

Overall record

Competition	First match	Last match	Starting round	Final position	Record
Competition	First match	Last match	Starting round	Final position	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Win %
National Soccer League	2 April 1977	24 September 1977	Matchday 1	6th	26	7	14	5	39	35	+4	026.92
NSL Cup	22 September 1977		First round	First round	1	0	0	1	1	2	−1	000.00
Total					27	7	14	6	40	37	+3	025.93

Source: Competitions

National Soccer League

League table

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
4	Adelaide City	26	12	7	7	50	31	+19	31
5	Western Suburbs	26	11	7	8	38	29	+9	29
6	St George-Budapest	26	7	14	5	39	35	+4	28
7	West Adelaide	26	8	10	8	38	32	+6	26
8	Footscray JUST	26	9	6	11	36	39	−3	24

Source: rsssf.com
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored

Results summary


Overall								Home						Away
Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
26	7	14	5	39	35	+4	35	5	6	2	22	16	+6	2	8	3	17	19	−2

Source: worldfootball.net

Results by round

Round	1	2	3	4	5	7	8	9	10	11	6	13	12	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26
Ground	A	H	H	H	H	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A
Result	D	W	L	L	D	W	D	D	D	D	W	D	L	D	W	D	D	D	D	L	W	D	W	L	D	W
Position	6	5	8	10	9	8	6	6	7	7	8	7	8	8	7	6	7	6	7	7	6	6	6	6	6	6
Points	1	3	3	3	4	6	7	8	9	10	12	13	13	14	16	17	18	19	20	20	22	23	25	25	26	28

Source: worldfootball.net
A = Away; H = Home; W = Win; D = Draw; L = Loss

Matches

Win Draw Loss

2 April 19771	Footscray JUST	0–0	St George-Budapest	Melbourne
		Report		Stadium: Middle Park Attendance: 3,500^[2] Referee: David Yelland

11 April 19772	St George-Budapest	3–2	Brisbane City	Sydney
	Hensman 28' Jankovics 29' O'Connor 47'	Report	Herdle 67' Johnston 75'	Stadium: Sydney Sports Ground Attendance: 1,700 Referee: Brian Fowler

16 April 19773	St George-Budapest	1–3	Marconi Fairfield	Sydney
	R. O'Shea 29'	Report	Campbell 15' Robertson 20' Byrne 73' (pen.)	Stadium: Sydney Sports Ground Attendance: 3,500 Referee: Harold Hall

23 April 19774	St George-Budapest	0–2	Adelaide City	Sydney
		Report	Nyskohus 54' Northcote 63'	Stadium: Sydney Sports Ground Attendance: 1,338 Referee: Tony Boskovic

1 May 19775	St George-Budapest	1–1	Eastern Suburbs	Sydney
	Morgan 37'	Report	Smith 66'	Stadium: Sydney Sports Ground Attendance: 1,763 Referee: Bill Jones

14 May 19777	St George-Budapest	5–1	Mooroolbark	Sydney
	R. O'Shea 5' O'Connor 26', 51' J. O'Shea 44' Morgan 70'	Report	Tront 28' (pen.)	Stadium: Sydney Sports Ground Attendance: 620 Referee: Peter Rampley

22 May 19778	West Adelaide	3–3	St George-Budapest	Adelaide
	Kosmina 4', 49' de Lyster 13'	Report	R. O'Shea 25' Aitken 27', 86'	Stadium: Hindmarsh Stadium Attendance: 7,520 Referee: Dennis Stanley

29 May 19779	St George-Budapest	0–0	Brisbane Lions	Sydney
		Report		Stadium: Sydney Sports Ground Attendance: 3,164 Referee: Barry Wilkinson

4 June 197710	Canberra City	2–2	St George-Budapest	Canberra
	B. Stoddart 15' Grujicic 21'	Report	O'Connor 25' O'Shea 53'	Stadium: Manuka Oval Attendance: 2,500 Referee: Tony Boskovic

11 June 197711	St George-Budapest	1–1	Western Suburbs	Sydney
	Jankovics 86'	Report	Moores 8'	Stadium: Sydney Sports Ground Attendance: 2,763 Referee: Richard Lorenc

13 June 19776	South Melbourne	2–3	St George-Budapest	Melbourne
	Macdonald 45', 84'	Report	Gnavi 2' George 22' Jankovics 56'	Stadium: Middle Park Soccer Stadium Attendance: 15,000 Referee: Stewart Mellings

26 June 197713	St George-Budapest	2–2	Fitzroy United	Sydney
	Cotton 53' Jankovics 77'	Report	Buljevic 56' Campbell 57'	Stadium: Hurstville Oval Attendance: 2,357 Referee: Brian Fowler

29 June 197712	Sydney Olympic	2–0	St George-Budapest	Sydney
	Cross 32' Senkalski 60'	Report		Stadium: Sydney Sports Ground Attendance: 2,923 Referee: Peter Rampley

3 July 197714	Brisbane City	1–1	St George-Budapest	Brisbane
	Pimblett 32'	Report	O'Connor 77'	Stadium: Perry Park Attendance: 6,514 Referee: Dave Nugent

10 July 197715	St George-Budapest	2–0	Footscray JUST	Sydney
	Gnavi 26' Aitken 53'	Report		Stadium: Wentworth Park Attendance: 5,334 Referee: Jim Dixon

17 July 197716	Adelaide City	1–1	St George-Budapest	Adelaide
	Northcote 31'	Report	O'Connor 52'	Stadium: Olympic Sports Field Attendance: 6,200 Referee: Graham Neal

23 July 197717	St George-Budapest	0–0	Marconi Fairfield	Sydney
		Report		Stadium: Marconi Oval Attendance: 5,482 Referee: Richard Lorenc

31 July 197718	Eastern Suburbs	2–2	St George-Budapest	Sydney
	Manecas 5' Barnes 14'	Report	Morgan 32' O'Connor 34'	Stadium: Wentworth Park Attendance: 2,033 Referee: John Yattersall

7 August 197719	St George-Budapest	1–1	South Melbourne	Sydney
	Morgan 8'	Report	Ollerton 51'	Stadium: Marconi Oval Attendance: 3,456 Referee: Barry Wilkinson

13 August 197720	Mooroolbark	1–0	St George-Budapest	Melbourne
	McGregor 33'	Report		Stadium: Esther Park Attendance: 800 Referee: Nick Karlich

21 August 197721	St George-Budapest	1–0	West Adelaide	Sydney
	Morgan 15'	Report		Stadium: Wentworth Park Attendance: 2,117 Referee: Brian Fowler

28 August 197722	Brisbane Lions	1–1	St George-Budapest	Brisbane
	Laszlo 77'	Report	Morgan 87'	Stadium: Perry Park Attendance: 3,835 Referee: Dave Nugent (Ron Richmond 75')

4 September 197723	St George-Budapest	2–0	Canberra City	Sydney
	O'Conner 17' Hensman 40'	Report		Stadium: Wentworth Park Attendance: 2,205 Referee: Peter Rampley

11 September 197724	Western Suburbs	3–2	St George-Budapest	Sydney
	Norris 6' C. Eaton 18' Harding 45'	Report	Hamilton 56', 73'	Stadium: Englefield Stadium Attendance: 780 Referee: Barry Wilkinson

18 September 197725	St George-Budapest	3–3	Sydney Olympic	Sydney
	Mendez 27' Hensman 51' Morgan 90+2'	Report	Senkalski 22', 81' (pen.) McIntosh 76'	Stadium: Sydney Sports Ground Attendance: 1,502 Referee: Dennis McDermott

24 September 197726	Fitzroy United	1–2	St George-Budapest	Melbourne
	Bozikas 8'	Report	Williams 40' Morgan 51'	Stadium: Middle Park Attendance: 2,000 Referee: Tony Beazleigh

NSL Cup

Win Draw Loss

21 September 1977 First round	Canberra City	2–1	St George-Budapest	Canberra
	Alston 2' Bourke 81'	Report	Jankovics 90+1'	Stadium: Manuka Oval Attendance: 1,000^[3] Referee: Dennis McDermott

Statistics

Appearances and goals

Includes all competitions. Players with no appearances not included in the list.^[4]^[3]

No.	Pos.	Nat.	Player	National Soccer League		NSL Cup		Total
No.	Pos.	Nat.	Player	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
1	GK		Martin Coe	17	0	1	0	18	0
2	DF		George Harris	23	0	0	0	23	0
3	DF		Paul Cotton	13	1	0	0	13	1
4	DF		John O'Shea	26	1	0	0	26	1
5	DF		Harry Williams	19+2	1	1	0	22	1
6	MF		Brendan Grosse	23+2	0	1	0	26	0
7	FW		Charlie George	5+1	1	0	0	6	1
8	FW		Mark Jankovics	24	4	0+1	1	25	5
9	FW		Neville Morgan	17+6	8	1	0	24	8
10	MF		Rudolfo Gnavi	23+2	2	1	0	26	2
11	FW		Phil O'Connor	23+2	8	1	0	26	8
12	FW		Fred Aitken	11+6	3	0	0	17	3
13	DF		Robert O'Shea	23	4	1	0	24	4
15	FW		Peter Hensman	6+5	3	1	0	12	3
16	DF		Doug Utjesenovic	7+2	0	1	0	10	0
18	MF		Willie Hamilton	8+2	2	1	0	11	2
19	DF		Peter Terry	4	0	0	0	4	0
20	GK		Dave McQuire	9	0	0	0	9	0
—	MF		Roberto Echeverria	1	0	0	0	1	0
—	—		Emery Holmik	2+1	0	0	0	3	0
—	—		Carlos Mendez	2+1	1	1	0	4	1
—	DF		Mike O'Shea	0+1	0	0	0	1	0

Disciplinary record

Includes all competitions. The list is sorted by squad number when total cards are equal. Players with no cards not included in the list.

Rank	No.	Pos.	Nat.	Player	National Soccer League			NSL Cup			Total
Rank	No.	Pos.	Nat.	Player
1	5	DF		Harry Williams	3	0	0	0	0	0	3	0	0
	6	MF		Brendan Grosse	3	0	0	0	0	0	3	0	0
	10	MF		Rudolfo Gnavi	3	0	0	0	0	0	3	0	0
4	2	DF		George Harris	2	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0
5	1	GK		Martin Coe	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0
	11	FW		Phil O'Connor	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0
	15	FW		Peter Hensman	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0
Total					14	0	0	0	0	0	14	0	0

Clean sheets

Includes all competitions. The list is sorted by squad number when total clean sheets are equal. Numbers in parentheses represent games where both goalkeepers participated and both kept a clean sheet; the number in parentheses is awarded to the goalkeeper who was substituted on, whilst a full clean sheet is awarded to the goalkeeper who was on the field at the start of play. Goalkeepers with no clean sheets not included in the list.

Rank	No.	Goalkeeper	NSL	Total
1	1	Martin Coe	5	5
2	20	Dave McQuire	1	1
Total			6	6

References

1 2 "Abonyi, Rooney switch clubs". Soccer Action. 26 January 1977. p. 1.
↑ Stock, Greg. "1977 National Soccer League Results". OzFootball.net.
1 2 Stock, Greg. "1977 National Soccer League Cup Results". OzFootball.net.
↑ Persoglia, Tony; Stock, Greg. "St. George 1977 Squad". OzFootball.net.

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[Jan26Transfers-1] 1 2 "Abonyi, Rooney switch clubs". Soccer Action. 26 January 1977. p. 1.

[2] Stock, Greg. "1977 National Soccer League Results". OzFootball.net.

[NSLCup-3] 1 2 Stock, Greg. "1977 National Soccer League Cup Results". OzFootball.net.

[4] Persoglia, Tony; Stock, Greg. "St. George 1977 Squad". OzFootball.net.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

1977 season
Head Coach	Manfred Schaefer Ilija Takac
Stadium	Sydney Sports Ground Hurstville Oval Wentworth Park
National Soccer League	6th
NSL Cup	First round
Top goalscorer	League: Neville Morgan Phil O'Connor (8 each) All: Neville Morgan Phil O'Connor (8 each)
Highest home attendance	5,482 vs. Marconi Fairfield (23 July 1977) National Soccer League
Lowest home attendance	620 vs. Mooroolbark (14 May 1977) National Soccer League
Average home league attendance	2,664
Biggest win	5–1 vs. Mooroolbark (H) (14 May 1977) National Soccer League
Biggest defeat	1–3 vs. Marconi Fairfield (A) (16 April 1977) National Soccer League 0–2 vs. Adelaide City (A) (23 April 1977) National Soccer League 0–2 vs. Sydney Olympic (A) (29 June 1977) National Soccer League
1978 →